Dehydration process



Dec. 15 1925 1,565,992

H. c. EDDY DEHYDRAT I ON PROCES S Filed Sept. 8, 1924 f/l//SA/TR JA/9&0. C. fom.

Patented Dee. 15, 1925.

UN TED STATES ...Pars-Nr .oi-rica HAROLD C. EDDY, OF LOS ANGELES. CALIFORNIA. ASSIGNOR `TO yPETROLEUM `REC.- TIFYING- COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA` A CORPORATION OF CALIFO IR'NIA..-

DEHYDRA'IION PROCESS.

Application filed `September 8, 192.4. Serial No. 736,508.

To u/Z liti/10m 'it 'may concern:

Re. it known that I, HAROLD C. EDDY, a lcitizen of the vUnited States, residing atlios Angeles, iii the county of Los Angeles and State ot California, have vinvented a new and useful Dehydratio'n Process, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the art of petroleum dehydration, and is particularly applicable t0 the dehydration of petroleum emulsions.

It. is very common for petioleuni to become associated with water either in the well or after it has been taken therefrom. This water is found in theoil either in the form oi' large masses which will easily settle out il allowed to stand, or in the foi-iii ot minute particles which will not settle out by gravity il the emulsion is allowed to stand forlong periods. The latter type of emulsion, commonly termed a tight emulsion, is sometin'ies rather ditlicult to separate.

Two general types of apparatus have been developedfor the treatment of tight emulsions, the one in most general use consisting of an electrical dehydrator in which the emulsion is subjected to an electrostatic 4field for the purpose of agglomeratingthe .water into large masses which can be readily settled out. It has also been found thatif the emulsion is passed through a filter, the Water particles are vaggloinerated. The electrical dehydrator is, however, defective, in that it it is adjusted to reduce the water content to a small fraction of 1 per cent, the rate of flow therethrough is necessarily very small, and large investment in apparatus is necessary to handle a small quantity ofoil. On the other hand, the filtration process has previously proved unsuccessful, due to the fact that the oil generally carries `rotary mud, sand, silt oi' other foreign matter which clogs up the tiltei'making frequent cleaning necessary. I have found, however, that by a combi-nation et the electrical and `the filtration processes, I am able to handle ylarge quantities ot' oil with comparatively inexpensive and small apparatus, and with a veiv high degree ot separation.

' Further objects and advantages'of the invention Will be made evident hereinafter.

Referring to the drawing which is for illustrative purposes only,

Fig. 1 `is a sectional elevation of apparatus suited to carry on my process.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of saine.

The apparatus employed consists of a dehydrator 11, a

filter 12, and a settling tank 1.3. 4

The dehydrator 11 consists of a grounded i elect rode 21 which is supported inside a tank 2201i suitable brackets 28. Emulsion 1s delivered .through an ,emulsion inlet pipe 24,

. from a pump 19,t he pipe 24: projecting upwardly inside a pipe25 which is connected into the center ofthe. electrode 2l. The electrode 21 may be of conical shape. Sus- ,pended above the grounded electrode 211 isa live electrode 26, this electrode being sususually delivering current at a potential of l 11,000 volts. One terminal 33 ofthe secondary 32 is connected toa rod 34, passing through aninsulator-35, the inner end of the `rod 34being connectedvby a flexible wire -36v with the rod 27.

In the dehydrator l1 the emulsion is subjectcd tothe action of an electric field between the electrodes 21 and 26, 'the greater The othcr'terminal' of $3.0l thesecondary 32 is connected directly, to the Vtank '22.

portion ot the water and substantially all of the solid material being aggloinerated and settling in the bottoni of the tank 22 and being withdrawn through a drain pipe 40. i The cleanedoil is taken over through afpipe il to the filter 12. This filter may be of any convenient construction, the oil therefrom being delivered ,througha perforated pipe 42 vinto the settlingtank 13. The pipe 42 is preferably perforated onits underside, and the oil `from the filter 12 passes upwardly through abody of hot Water contained in tliebottoin of the tank 13. Cleaned oil is removed from the tank 13 through a pipe 43 and water is removed .through a pipe 44.

[In the 'treatment of petroleum emulsions for some purposes, and in many cases in the treatment of other oils, it is necessary .toreduce the water content ofthe emulsion to preferably less than ,2U of l per cent.

The electrical dehydrator 11 can be set to reduce the emulsion contents of oils below this figure, but if so operated, the capacity ot' a given size dehydrator might be less than 100 barrels per day. This same type et dehydrator will, however, reduce the content below 8 per cent and will deliver' approximately 1500 barrels of cleaned oilfrom a 25 per cent emulsion.

The filter 12, it operated upon an emule sion of' this character, especially whereconsiderable solid .matter is carried in the oil, would have a very small capacity and would be impracticable to operate, due to the fact that it would almost immediately clog up and it would be necessary to frequently open and clean it.

I have found, however, that the electrical dehydrator, in reducing the emulsion content to 3 per cent, will remove from the emulsion substantially all of the solid matter carried therein, the water apparently collecting around the solid matter, each particle of which acts as a nucleus for the agglomerated water.

As a result, with the electrical dehydrator operating at approximately 1500 barrels per day, I have found that the emulsion passing over through vthe pipe 4l, although it contains approximately 3 per cent water, is `substantially free from suspended solids. lonsequently the filter 12 does not become clogged and can be operated over considerable periods without the necessity of clean- In the filter 12 the small Water particles are further agglomerated to such a degree that as the emulsion is passed through the perforations in the pipe 42 and upwardly through the water in the settling tank 13, there is a further and very complete separation of the water and the oil. It is not difficult, with suitable apparatus, to reduce the water content to a small fraction of 1 per cent, and to operate over long periods without it being necessary to clean the filter.

It will be seen that by my process I am able to clean large quantities of oil and to reduce the water content to a vel small amount. This I accomplish by using the electrical dehydrator and the filter under conditions which insure their maximum efiiciency, the electrical dehydrator being especially suited to remove the greater portion of the water and substantially all the suspended solids, and the filter being most efiicient in handling emulsion containing only a little Waterand substantially no solids. Y

I claim as my invention:

1. A process of dehydrating emulsions containing solid material in suspension which con'xprlses: subjecting the emulsion to the action of an electric field for thepurpose of agglomerating and precipitating the water and solids in suspension; removing the material so precipitated; and filtering the resil due to agglomerate the Water remaining 1n the residue.

2. A process of dehydrating emulsions containing solid which comprises subjecting the emulsion to the action of an electric field for the purpore of agglon'ierating and precipitating the water and solids in suspension; filtering the residue to agglomerate water remaining in the residue; and subsequently removing the water agglomerated b said filtration.

3. A process of ehydrating emulsions containing solid material in suspension which comprises: subjecting the emulsion to the action of an electric field for the purpose of agglomerating and precipitating the water and solids in suspension; filtering the residue to agglomerate water remaining in the residue; allowing the residue with the water agglomerated by said filtration to stand for a sufficient period t0 allow said agglomerated Water to settle out; and removing the supernatant oil.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this '2nd day of September, 1924.

HAROLD C. EDDY.

materialV in suspension y 

